shepherdroebke@gmail.com, Author at WELS Friends of Africa

February 10, 2021February 11, 2021

Life is Full of Challenges

*Pastor Richard Ochichi prepares for an online class taught by One Africa Team Missionary Dan Witte*

“Life is full of challenges,” notes Pastor Ochichi Nyangau. “Each day comes with its own.”

Meet Richard Ochichi Nyangau, a pastor in Kenya who has served three parishes. He is one of my brothers in the Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ (LC-MC).

Pastor Ochichi and I got acquainted recently online. From October 2020 through January 2021 he was in a theological research and writing class which I taught. Pastor Ochichi participated studiously—five days a week for ten weeks—while also keeping up all his other duties. More on those below.

January 13, 2021December 21, 2020

So Much More than a Burial

The body of late Evangelist Chitanzane Kantokoma Mapulanga was laid to rest on 6 December 2020

The coffin was lowered. The dirt was heaped. Wreaths were placed. But the funeral was so much more than a burial. It was a “witness to a stricken world.”

In Christ, who tasted death for us
We rise above our natural grief
And witness to a stricken world
The strength and splendor of belief. – CW #607

December 30, 2020December 21, 2020

Be Patient Until School Starts

The Class of ’23 had to wait several months before starting classes at the Lutheran Seminary in Lusaka, Zambia

“Therefore, brothers, be patient until the coming of the Lord” (James 5:7a EHV). This is a timely section of Scripture for us all but especially for those of us involved in worker training. Back in March of 2020 most all of us throughout the world were beginning to experience the different challenges of the COVID 19 pandemic. At the Seminary here in Lusaka, Zambia and at the Lutheran Bible Institute (LBI) in Lilongwe, Malawi it meant the closure of our two worker training schools. They work closely together in training up future pastors for the Lutheran Church of Central Africa (LCCA). Little did we realize that for all the challenges the closure of the schools would bring, trying to open up our LBI and Seminary would bring even more.